Houston Chronicle
President Scrooge left college students a lump of coal
By CLARENCE PAGE
A couple of days before the night before Christmas, thousands of the nation's college students found someone left a big lump of coal in their backpacks.
Just call him President Scrooge.
Yes, for a man who likes to call himself an education president, it didn't take President Bush long to break one of his proudest education promises.
As recently as his final debate with Sen. John Kerry, the president promised to "continue to expand Pell grants to make sure that people have an opportunity to start their career with a college diploma."
That sounded great. I like to hear presidents talk about improving educational opportunities. Take it from me, children, nothing beats a good education in distinguishing the movers and shakers of this world from those who get moved and shaken.
And the federal scholarships known as Pell grants have been a spectacular success in encouraging poor and middle-income young people who might otherwise not quite be able to afford to go to college or stay enrolled. Almost all of the 5.3 million Pell recipients come from families earning less than $40,000 a year who, as any parent of college students can tell you, face a steep climb. College costs have risen 14 percent in the past year alone.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/2973011